Thoughts of a Prodigal Daughter
by Madhatter1981
Summary: Morgan's thoughts after a offhand comment by her boss


**Thoughts of a Prodigal Daughter**

"Get your boyfriend Greg and…"

Morgan was left to wonder even more about her bosses' strange behavior in light of the way he gave her this last job. Sure she got along well with Greg, but that was more due to the fact that they where the closest in age among the night shift CSI's.

She really didn't know what to think about any of the criminologists that she was working with. She remembered, before her parents marriage imploded due to Ecklie's habit of not being able to leave the job at home, him grumbling and ranting about the actions of the night shift criminologists. Working with them now she can sort of see his point.

The Night CSI's, to their credit, were a top-notch group of investigators. However, and what she believed to be her father's reason for not liking them as a whole was the fact that they weren't purely observational and hands off about their job. They cared too much about the victims which sometimes lead them to do risky, dangerous and sometimes illegal in order to get the evidence need to get a conviction for the crime they were investigating.

To a certain extent she understood Ecklie's reaction to her joining the night shift CSI's, and not his day shift investigators. She wondered if he understood how she needed the space in order to be able to define herself as a criminologist. Given her relationship with her since she was old enough to understand it, she wonders if it really matters.

A relationship with Conrad Ecklie was done on his terms, or not at all. For a young girl this was heartbreaking; making it to the semifinals in soccer in middle school, learning how Ecklie was too busy with a case to come to her weekend game (which she won) made her want to hit somebody. The fact that the man missed her Graduation from High School made her lose all faith in Ecklie being around for anything important.

But still she did love science and being raised in a quasi law enforcement family made her appreciate the job, both the cops and the CSI's. She thought long and hard about whether or not she wanted to be a cop or a criminologist, being a crime scene tech won out due to the fact that the criminologist get to find the proof that the crime was committed in a certain fashion regardless of theories or anything else. Like the TV show said "Just the Facts".

Moving back to Vegas was even harder. She though she could get a job in New York or Miami or LA but there was not any opening's the last few months of collage when she sent out her resume. It was with a heavy heart that she chose to once more take a step into that cesspool of sin and violence known as Las Vegas. For quite a while she thought she could stay away from her "home" for no other reason as to stay away and get some real life experience under her belt before she came back to the crime capitol of the United States. Unfortunately that was not to be.

She wasn't sure if someone had put a bulletin out or the universe was just conspiring against her, but ever crime lab she sent her resume to had replied either that they didn't have and entry level position available or she didn't have the specialty they were looking for. With a heavy heart she sent her resume to the Las Vegas crime lab, which had surprisingly offered her a position. So she girdled her loins and resigned herself to the fact that she would have to face Ecklie sooner that later.

After arriving at the airport she was surprised yet pleased to find Gil Grissom waiting for her as she debarked from McCarran International Airport. After securing her effects in the trunk of Grissom's car and replying that the rest of her things where being ship to her later, they drove towards the apartment complex that she had found. After politely responding in the negative toward Gil (and Sara)'s offer of their spare room until she was able to get resituated in Vegas again. Instead she had fun teasing Gil about whether or not he and Sara where going to have any children in the future. Gil seemed surprisingly please at Morgan's pronouncement that he and Sara would be a blessing to any children they were lucky to have.

Realizing that he was hungry Gil asked if Morgan had eaten lately. About to tease him about acting a bit like an over protective father (more than Ecklie had been at any rate) Morgan had to bit her lip as she hear Gil's stomach growl. Agreeing that she could eat, they pull into one of the dinner scattered throughout Vegas. Once they were seated and had ordered they started to talk.

Gil told her about how things had changed since both he and her father had become criminologists. How more was expected of you, you were held accountable as a team, you all rose together and fell with each other. How you shared the sweetness of the triumphs and the bitterness of the defeats. Looking at him talking about a job he hadn't done full time for two to three years Morgan had to ask him why he left a job he obviously loved.

With a whimsical smile Grissom looked at her head on, leaving his breakfast alone as he started to talk.

"You have to make a choice between the life of a criminologist, and a life outside. I've been told that you can have a life outside of it, in fact I've meet a criminologist at a symposium up in Seattle that has a wife and a couple of kids and goes to most of their games and other events but to be able to order you life to such an extent take a certain type of talent that I believe most people don't seem to possess. Most of the criminologists that I know are unable to do it." Grissom said with a soft smile. After a pleasant evening Morgan took a cab to her apartment and fell into bed nearly instantaneously falling asleep.

Gil's response to her question at dinner the night that she had arrived in Vegas gave Morgan pause, giving that she had knew that Gil Grissom had married one of his subordinates. She ruefully admitted to herself that the marriage took place after Sara Sildle took a leave of absence to try to find herself. At least that's what she was told when she asked Sara, running into her accidentally after her and Gil had come back from wherever they had gone to. Although the way that Sara had said it led Morgan to believe that at the time she had left; Sara had made no plans to come back to being a criminologist, much less Las Vegas.

Morgan realized that in her ruminating she had got slightly lost. Backtracking she ran in the Hodgens. Quickly, yet politely trying to get around him Morgan repressed a wince as the man who was almost twice her age started hitting on her. It wasn't like it was subtle either the man was laying it on thicker than mortar.

Thankfully for Hodgens' continued health, if nothing else, the voice of Greg Sanders was heard coming down the hall in a conversation with Nick Stokes; of all of the Criminologists the one that made her feel welcome and at home the easiest. She wonders, giving that her boss might be referring to what her relationship with Greg might look like to outsiders. It wasn't that she was or was not attracted to him, more that Greg was the closest person in the crime lab her own age and that made him easier to relate and have a conversation with. This being the case it started her wondering if the fact that Greg might be someone that she could have more of a relation with was lost in the hustle and bustle of what happened with Langston on top of trying to find her way in Las Vegas.

After finish the investigation Greg asked Morgan if she'd like to get something to eat, quickly stating that he meant just as friends. A ripple of disappointment spread trough Morgan even as she agreed figuring that have someone so close to her age as a friend if nothing else would make working at the crime lab easier. Quickly agreeing she got back into the car, seconds later they where on the road heading for some food.

Sitting inside a local burger joint, they began telling each other their life stories. Morgan laughed quite hard at Greg's confession that the only reason his family immigrated to America was that his Grandparents got pregnant out of wedlock. After getting control of her sense of humor she asked Greg if he knew any Norwegian, to her surprise Greg started speaking a guttural but pleasant sounding language that Morgan was embarrass to find that she was nearly swooning, languages being one of her hidden weaknesses. Seconds later she was nearly chocking after Greg said that until Hodgen started to hit on a tech they had working in the lab a couple years ago most of the criminologist though that he was gay giving how often he would be in Grissom company, then they realize he was just a kiss ass. Sudden the thought came to her that this might be the Hodgen that her dad thought was the only good tech in the night lab. This fact just furthered Morgan's resolve to spend as much time away form Hodgen as possible.

Thinking of how easy it was to talk to Greg she remember the few times she had tried to go on dates when she was in high school, college or out on her own. The fact that she was studying to be/was a Criminologist put off many guy, who mostly thought that she was into death. The number of times she got asked if she would cut herself, or got turned on by death was far to large for her to count.

Listening to Greg who had continued to talk though out her rumination, she came to the conclusion that while Greg might not be the kind of person she went for as a younger women maybe he should be the kind of person she should at least be friends with. Smiling at this thought she interrupted his rambling to ask if there was anything fun to do around Vegas other than the touristy things. The smile on Greg's face and the light in his eyes made a smile appear on her face.

**-Fin-**


End file.
